Dreamscape
by MalenaV
Summary: She dreams of reality. His reality is her dream.
1. Reshape

**A/N: **_Like many of you, I had my mind blown away by the brilliant film: Inception. I've been a fan of Nolan's work for quite a while now and most because he thrives off ambiguity, much like myself. And while this little piece of fan fiction shall go nowhere near Nolan's masterpiece, I will not hold myself back anymore. :)_

_The only way this will be explained is through time and, hopefully, consistent updates (but who knows how long my fascination with this fandom will last?).

* * *

_

"_I was once an architect, too."_

"_But how…how can you just leave it? Like it meant nothing?"_

"_I was an architect, but you're better than me; you're the best."_

"_It's not the same without you, though."_

"_I went too far; I went too far and now I can't dream anymore."_

"_We need you, Dom."_

"_Never stop dreaming, Ariadne."_

"_Please, come back."_

"_Regret nothing."

* * *

_

Ariadne jolted awake, wiping the sweat off her brow as she tried to calm her labored breathing. Dazedly, she leaned over and her hand fumbled over her dresser, searching for that chess piece. When her clammy hands made contact with the cold marble, Ariadne released a breath she was not aware she had been holding onto. She brushed her thumb over the tip, closing her eyes in relief. Placing the piece back on the dresser, Ariadne tipped it and saw it fall in the right direction.

But she was not as relieved as she'd thought she would be. And then, she understood him; why he had done it all. Sometimes, the dream was better than the reality and the reality served as the dream.

Minutes passed by and they felt like years to her now. Years in dreams felt like seconds. The illuminated day served as the perfect temporal prison, providing an illusion of freedom among the wide awake world. But when the sunset and the city slept, Ariadne would seek solace in her made up world of the endless and he would be there, waiting for her, sitting in that small café that looked so familiar but never really existed.

Ariadne turned her head and looked at the glowing red digits of the alarm clock. Two hours until the sun would come back to reclaim her. Two hours. How far could she go with those two hours?

Without regret, Ariadne closed her eyes and ran as far as she could with two hours.

* * *

_She was sitting at the café again, not knowing how she got there. The waitress came by and set a cup of coffee in front of her and a plate of curly fries in front of him. Bemused, Ariadne raised an eyebrow at Dom and he fought back a smirk in return._

"_Curly fries?"_

"_I like the fact that their curly."_

_Ariadne smiled and looked down at her untouched coffee, staring at it until the flutter in her heart passed._

"_Do you ever feel like…like your dream is better than reality?"_

"_Everyone feels that way Ariadne. That's why they're called dreams."_

"_Have you ever thought of staying in a dream?"_

"_Always."_

"_What stopped you? How did you convince yourself to not…dream?"_

"_Dreams are never perfect. Surely, you'd think they would be, being dream after all. But there will always be that little niggling feeling of being unsatisfied. It's different for everyone since it has to do with the idea of perfection. Sometimes, perfection is not good enough, or too good, and you just can't live with it anymore. If it's not right in a dream, it can never be. But in reality, there is always a chance that you'll be able to find that perfection, or imperfection, and waking up is that leap of faith."_

"_Have you ever taken a leap of faith?"_

"_Every time."_

"_Then…is this a dream?"_

"_Am I perfect?"_

"_I—I don't know."_

"_Take a leap of faith, Ariadne."

* * *

_

Ariadne woke up with the sun and its reality blinding her.

* * *

"Then…is this a dream?"

"Am I perfect?"

"I—I don't know."

"Take a leap of faith, Ariadne."

Dom couldn't help but smirk as Ariadne looked back at him, perplexed at his ambiguity. He felt a little pretentious at times, but watching her think, trying to make sense of everything was, in a word, entertaining. He picked up a quickly cooling curly fry and bit into it, taking note of how much easier is was to get to the center of a spiral by simply cutting through it. The rest of it hovered in front of his face, between him and Ariadne, hoping that she would get some sort of clue.

But then, she collapsed.

He rushed to her side, calling out for help from all the bystanders who stayed seated, drinks inches away from their mouths that hung open from bewilderment. No one did anything. Dom tried desperately to wake Ariadne up, even going so far as to dump a cup of ice water on her face, but there was no response.

* * *

"_Where did you go, Ariadne?"_

"_I did what you told me to do."_

"_You need to come back to reality, Ariande."_

"_I never stopped dreaming."_

"_Ariande, come back."_

"_And I regret nothing."_


	2. Formulate

**A/N: **_Truth be told, this all sounded much nicer in my head. I'm trying my best to...not make this like the Dreamlord episode from Doctor Who. Really trying (and I think I might have just revealed a bit more than I intended, but no worries-constant revisions going on. Sorry for the sort of late update; lots of total scrapping for this one_

_A bit of a side note: I honestly believe that Dom and Mal were, in a word (or two), soul mates. Two halves of a whole as Mal put it. They were the love of each other's lives and it's rather difficult, in my opinion, to push aside all that and have Ariadne "fill that gap". So...don't expect too much fluff. I'm a romantic at heart and enjoy the happy endings, but when it comes to writing, I am not the kindest person when it comes to love._

* * *

"_Do you remember?"_

"_What, Ariadne?"_

"_I'm sorry, I must sound stupid."_

"_No, no…what is it?"_

"_You told me something once…in a dream."_

"_What did I say?"_

"_You told me to take a leap of faith."_

"_I did?"_

"_Yes, and I listened."_

"_So…will you come back?"_

"_Dom, did I ever tell you…"_

"_No…no, please."_

"_To take a leap of faith?"

* * *

_

"Dreams, even the most vivid ones, are often only half remembered. Something deep inside tells you that it happened and, consciously, you know it did because you were there. But, subconsciously, you are aware that where you stand now is reality and where you were in that half remembered dream is just that: A dream."

"I'm sorry…I'm not sure I follow."

They were sitting at that café; like the one before. Only, it was the real thing. Dom had always said that it was best not to recreate from memory, to only use the smallest details. Maybe an entire street corner wasn't bad.

"When you sleep, Ariadne, what does it feel like?"

"What…I…."

"Tell me. What are you thinking about right now?"

Reluctantly, Ariadne spoke, afraid of admitting the truth, "I'm thinking…how this is all really a dream…and that you're not here right now. That you're just a projection: The best that I can do."

"And when you wake up, what will you think?"

"That it's better to dream than to be awake."

"But what if you finally did stay in your dream world."

"What do you mean?"

"If you choose to live a dream, you'll never be able to dream again."

"Would I have to?"

Just as Dom moved to respond, Ariadne collapsed again.

"God dam—"

Once again, the onlookers in the café stared at him, watching him fumble around with Ariadne's limp body; he felt like a criminal. Thankfully enough the same waiter from before found it within his heart to help Dom chase down a taxi. Once a Dom placed a generous tip on their table, he was off, trying his best to remain unperturbed by the curious stares of suspicion from the cab driver.

Thankfully enough, Arthur was ready waiting for him outside the workshop.

* * *

Ariadne woke up with suddenly and half remembered her dream. She proceeded with her routine of reaching over to her dresser for her chess piece and affirming her reality.

She didn't move for another half hour, allowing the afternoon to fade away. She contemplated going back to sleep, extending her nap, but was afraid of going back and losing reality.

As the clock continued to tick by as slowly as it could, Ariadne sat up. The minute hand began its trek to the top of the hour and Ariadne saw that it would soon be four o'clock.

She then fully remembered that she had to meet someone and ran out the door without ceremony. The clock continued to tick away slowly, but surely.

Time was passing.

* * *

"Again? Maybe you should stop having these mini-dates with her. Or at least quit going to that café; people are going to start thinking you're a serial date rapist or something."

"With the same girl on the same day?"

"A persistent one."

"But—that's beside the point."

Bemused, Arthur turned away from Cobb to look at Ariadne asleep on the lawn chair. Her breathing was steady and she didn't have a fever, just like last time. They had just brushed it off as a simple case of not eating breakfast. It did, although, sound a bit ridiculous considering she had collapsed in a café which, Arthur presumed, was full of food. Cobb had presumed the same thing and had his curly fries packed to-go which Ariadne, upon waking up, ate all too happily. Arthur had never realized Ariadne was so fond of curly fries.

She had, almost immediately, asked Cobb out for lunch. She acted as if the incident just a few hours had not happened at all. Cobb, in his mutual suspicion, indulged Ariadne who seemed inexplicably happy to see them—no, _him_.

And they left Arthur alone, only to return a short hour and a half later in the same state as before.

"Was she acting weird again?"

"Yeah…"

"What'd she say?"

Cobb crossed his arms, knitting his brow in confusion and contemplation. He wished he had heard wrong, that he was thinking too much into it, that Ariadne was just fooling around—trying to be funny. He shut his eyes, squeezing his lids together, hoping it would change something—anything, but he opened his eyes and saw the undeniably reality and swallowed the all too familiar lump in his throat.

"She…she thinks this is all a dream."

Arthur's mouth fell open and he tried to speak, but knew better. He shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head up slightly, looking up at the ceiling in though before allowing his eyes to travel down, looking at Cobb and then Ariadne. Lowering his head, he waited.

"I don't know what to do, Arthur. It doesn't make sense. When she said that, I thought that maybe I'd done it again; altered her sense of reality. And maybe I did. I brought her into this world—no, not world. Just—"

"Cobb, it's okay, we'll—"

"No, Arthur, it's not. She could do something incredibly stupid and it might just be my fault. She thinks this, this right here—us—she thinks it's all a dream. And for some god damn reason, she thinks her dreams are real—she's dreaming right now and she thinks it's real."

"Then why don't we just go in and get her back?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why?"

Rubbing his neck, Cobb struggled to find the right words. He looked down at Ariadne and wondered where he had gone wrong.

"I sort of indulged her at the café; I didn't want to scare her. I acted like she thinks I would…I think."

"What do you mean?"

Shrugging, Cobb replied as nonchalantly as possible, "Well, she might just be insane."

* * *

Ariadne ran as fast as she could across the bridge, trying her best to avoid bumping into anyone and the stares while simultaneously averting her eyes from everyone. It was a habit she had picked up ever since her first experience in shared dreaming; Ariadne had never found sidewalks more threatening.

Thankfully enough, Arthur was waiting at the end of the bridge.

* * *

"_Why did you try so hard, Ariadne?"_

"_What do you mean, Dom?"_

"_When we first worked together, you tried so hard with me. Why?"_

"_Because I was worried about you…the team…your kids, even."_

"_But why?"_

"_Because they need a father."_

"_But I needed their mother."_

"_Dom,"_

"_And in my dreams, I had her."_

"_But you had to let her go, the guilt it…it was killing you—"_

"_And I loved her—I still do. And I miss her so much"_

"_Dom, please."_

"_And it's more than I can bare."_


	3. Detonate

**A/N:** _I'm so glad that so many of you reviewed. I wish I could just write out the entire plot of this story at once but I enjoy giggling like a little girl to read all your reviews, thinking that it's Ariadne who's dreaming. Hohoho..._

_Also, I like Arthur/Ariadne-almost as much as I like Dom/Mal. But this is a Dom/Ariadne story and I like that the most._

* * *

"_Have you ever loved, Ariadne?_

"_I don't understand."_

"_Have you ever been loved?"_

"_I…I don't know."_

"_It is the most wonderful sensation and the most painful."_

"_I don't think I've experienced that yet, Dom."_

"_You'll find someone to love and be loved by and will understand me someday; understand…us."_

"_Dom…I,"_

"_You'll understand what it means to be a lover."_

"_Listen, please—"_

"_A half of a whole,"_

"_Dom!"_

"_And when you lose them—"_

"_Please, just be quiet and—"_

"_You'll cry,"_

"—_listen!"_

"_in agony—"_

"_You don't understand, Dom. I—"_

"—_as your heart breaks."

* * *

_

"Ah, you're here. Glad to see you showed up,"

There it was: That quirky smile.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur. School was a bit tough today and I thought I'd try and get in a small nap to, you know, rest up so I could be all fresh and whatnot but it wasn't as small as I'd anticipated. Actually, it wasn't that long, truthfully, I just lounged around in my pajamas for a half hour 'cause I was lazy and I…kind of…forgot."

Ariadne grimaced, scrunching her face up in anticipation of a scolding. But Arthur just smiled and threw an arm over her shoulder as he began walking down the sidewalk, her small figure tripping slightly as she tried to keep up.

"You're cute when you ramble like that."

Blushing, Ariadne buried her chin in her scarf but couldn't stop herself from smiling wryly.

Sometimes, she thought, reality wasn't so bad.

"Well, what do you mean by 'it's not a good idea'?"

"Most likely, she'll have projections of us if she thinks her dream is real. Her subconscious would start tearing us apart immediately."

"So…why don't we just get Eames? He could just snap her out of it and she'll never see it coming."

"I don't think it's that simple and besides—I have no clue where he's gone to."

"…Neither do I."

"Let's just wait; she'll wake up eventually."

"How do you know?"

"I don't—but it happened before. So let's hope so."

Arthur shrugged, walking away to the end of the workshop to fiddle and tinker around with small bits of this and that lying about the space. Cobb chose to instead pull up a lawn chair of his own and, with nothing better to do, sit and wait.

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere special. Why do you ask?"

"You're dressed so well and…am I underdressed?"

"You're fine,"

"Yeah…you're overdressed."

Arthur tossed his head in the air in mirthful laughter, wrapping is arm back around Ariadne's shoulder as he did. They began walking again and, for once, Ariadne didn't have to avert her eyes from everyone else; they weren't looking. She felt safe and real and, for some reason, thought that the feeling would last.

* * *

"She's still not awake," Arthur plainly stated as he walked up to the still seated Cobb. "Maybe she's just really, really tired."

"Yeah, maybe…"

Cobb sat up, running his eyes in frustration and an effort to stay awake.

"You should head on home; I'll stay the night—keep watch."

"Yeah…yeah, thanks."

Cobb stood up wearily, stretching muscles and cracking joints as he did. Looking down at the still sleeping Ariadne, Cobb wondered if he was overreacting—that there really was nothing wrong with her and she was just sleeping. Then, the thought of sleep overtook his senses and he thought, for a moment, to spend the night in the workshop, and sedate himself into a dream state. But his memory wouldn't let him; he remembered something more important.

"I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning. And Arthur…call me if anything happens."

"Alright, I will."

Cobb walked away from the two, his mind drifting from one thought to another. It wasn't until his mind came across one thought in particular that his stride slowed down just a bit. A small part of him wanted to turn around, to make sure she wasn't just asleep; to make sure she and Arthur had not played some sort of sick joke on him. But he didn't turn around.

He went home.

* * *

"I'm sure you're at least a bit familiar with this place."

"A bit? How could I possibly forget? The entire place blew up in my face."

Arthur pulled out a chair in a gesture for Ariadne to sit. A waiter came over, inquiring about drinks and suggesting the two of them order the house special. Arthur took the menus without offering a word other than "water" in return; Ariadne merely looked around her, awed by the familiarity and lost by the unfamiliarity.

"I thought Cobb said we should never recreate from memory; this is the exact same café from our first dream sharing."

"Cobb was always adamant about us following the rules because he was the one breaking them; besides, I'm sure there are small details, here and there, that are different—or the same."

Arthur smiled, eyes crinkling in mirth as he looked at Ariadne before glancing down at his menu. Ariadne found it contagious; the way his eyes twinkled, how he was genuinely amused or happy. He made her feel secure, important—as though he looked at only her that way and that no one else knew that look. It was hers. But his words got to her and she found herself looking around at the small details that were either different or the same but found that she really couldn't focus on anything so minuscule. She tried to focus back on her menu, hoping she'd be able to let go of that niggling idea crawling around the back of her mind. She looked up, only for a moment, and realized the biggest difference between this reality and that dream—

"Are you ready to order?"

It was Arthur.

"Ah, yes, I'll have the…"

And not Cobb.

"And how about you, miss?"

Not Dom.

"Curly fries."

* * *

The house was quiet when Cobb walked in. He trudged through the living room and managed to not disturb the sleeping Miles who appeared to have been waiting for him. A bit more conscious about his footsteps, Cobb tiptoed over to his kids' room and peeked in; they were sound asleep. He contemplated walking in, putting his hand over their heads, kissing them. But he resisted, walking away with steps heavier than before.

His bedroom was cold but he relished in the feeling of the air against his heated skin. It had been a long day and all he could think of on the drive home was collapsing onto the cold sheets of his bed. So, he kicked off his shoes, took a deep breath and fell onto his bed face first. It was as though his entire body had been ignited; even his breath felt too hot for his throat.

The welcomed chill of the bed soon died away as his body warmed the sheets. The urge to roll over and start anew was building but he couldn't find the strength to actually do so.

And so the fever carried him away into a deep sleep.

But it was not the sickness that alarmed him, but the fact that he was dreaming.

* * *

"_I have a bit of a confession to make."_

"_Oh yeah? What is it?"_

"_I…when we first met, that is…"_

"_Just tell me, Ariadne."_

"_I thought you were…"_

"_I was…"_

"_Attractive."_

"_Attractive?"_

"_Y-…Yes. Attractive."_

"_I'm flattered."_

"_I'm embarrassed."_

"_Is that all?"_

"_No…there's more."_

"_Did you think I was charming, too?"_

"_No…well…when we first met—when we first shared a dream…no, the second time…your wife came and stabbed me. I thought she was your ex wife."_

"_Ariadne…"_

"_And a part of me was extremely happy—"_

"_What are you—"_

"—_because I thought I'd have a chance."_

"_Stop, just—"_

"—_but then Arthur told me she died…and then I almost gave up."_

"_You shouldn't—"_

"_Because I knew that meant you still loved her—"_

"_Ariadne, listen—"_

"—_and part of you always will."_

"_Stop, please, just stop—"_

"_And now, I understand."_

"_Ariadne?"_

"_And I'll cry—"_

"_You have to stop—"_

"_in agony—"_

"_You were right, Ariadne, I—"_

"—_as my heart breaks."  
_


	4. Regenerate

A/N: AAAHHHHH SORRY SORRY SORRY! I know it's been an unreasonably long time since my last update but...I just finished my first year at college! Ah, lots of stories for the future but none for this story it seems. I still love Inception and Cobb/Ariadne so I will get to finishing this! I also have two other massive stories in the making, both of which I haven't touched since August! Yikes. Well, hopefully people are still interested. Sorry for the incredibly slow pacing here but I have discovered that I am never too straightforward in my writing so...ah, faults of the author here. Anyway...

Read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

"_I still think about her."_

"_Mal?"_

"_Yes, Mal."_

"_She's still in your dreams?"_

"_No, no…I don't dream anymore."_

"_Then…"_

"_I just…think about her."_

"_That seems…normal."_

"_Normal? Yeah, I guess."_

"_Dom…it's alright."_

"_I guess you're right; there's nothing wrong with thinking about her when I wake up or get my kids ready. Nothing wrong with thinking about her when I make breakfast or when James asks when she's coming back. Nothing wrong with looking at the door in the afternoon, waiting for it to open and reveal her. It's perfectly normal to sit in the living room with my kids, watching SpongeBob Squarepants, expecting her to walk in, telling us to wash up for dinner. There's nothing wrong with looking at her clothes hanging in the closet, wondering what she would wear the next day._

"_Oh, Dom…"_

"_And there's certainly nothing wrong about me thinking of her when I go to bed, about me not touching her side of the bed."_

"_It'll be alright, just talk to me—"_

"_I don't dream anymore—I don't dream of her. But I still think of her, constantly."_

* * *

"Curly fries? I didn't know they served that here."

"Well, apparently they do." Ariadne noted as the server walked away with their orders. Her eyes flittered everywhere but refused to gloss over one particular spot. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Is everything alright, Ariadne?"

"What?—Y-Yeah, yeah…everything's fine."

She awarded Arthur one furtive glance and was relieved to see his relief. He smiled and her heart skipped a beat until she smiled in return. Her heart sped up to make up for those skipped beats and a surge of blood rushed to her face; she lowered her head to hide her blush and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear to make it seem as though she wasn't hiding anything. Arthur let out a small laugh at the sight, propping his chin up with the palm of his hand as he looked at Ariadne. The laugh in his breath soon faded and the twinkle in his eye was the only part of him that gave away his amusement. Ariadne, feeling sure she no longer looked like a tomato, looked up to see that twinkle in the candlelight and fought back a smile until her cheeks hurt.

He's not Dom.

"Where do you want to go after this?"

But he's not bad.

"Anywhere,"

* * *

_Dom woke up to find himself in the workshop, alone. He looked over to Arthur's desk and saw that its seat was empty. Sitting up on the lawn chair, Dom rubbed his hand over his neck in an attempt to relieve the built up tension. He stood up, arching his back until it cracked in return, and walked across the expanse of the workshop floor. Stopping in the middle of the building still rubbing his neck, Dom bathed in the moonlight and let his thoughts catch up to him._

_He couldn't, for the life of him, recall how he had ended up where he stood._

* * *

"How about we get your curly fries to go and head back to my place?"

"Your place?"

"You said anywhere."

Smiling, Ariadne leaned back in her chair and welcomed the air of comfort to breathe in. Arthur did the same, only he managed to make it look better.

"You know, somehow you make everything you do very…cool."

"You're saying I'm cool." Ah, that sly little smile.

"That's one way of putting it."

"And what would the other way be?"

"You make me look comparatively _un_cool; and considering the fact that I am the woman in the relationship, such breech of…power does not serve you well."

"Relationship?"

She bites her lower lip and his heart jumps.

"Yeah, you know…friends."

And gravity takes over.

"Right; friends."

The remainder of the dinner was awkward and painfully slow. Ariadne spent the perpetual last fifteen minutes of the "friend-date" in a quandary, wondering what she had said to put Arthur in a state of such uncongenial disarray. Arthur's lips were drawn in a tight line, his teeth chewing on the inside of them in a sort of controlled desperation. He gestures to the passing waiter for the check, still refusing to offer Ariadne no much as a glance in her direction.

"Arthur," she said at last, hoping to break the growing tension. He turned his head to look at her, his gaze unnerving.

"How…How have you been?" She decided to start.

Arthur stared at her then, his look incredulous.

"Fine, I've been fine. And…And how about you, Ariadne?" he smiled but his eyes didn't crinkle the way they normally did.

"Fine," Ariadne swallowed her unease, "Are you still working? I mean…like still in the dream business?"

"More or less." His eyes remained cryptic.

"How long are you going to be in Paris?"

"I don't know yet—I've just been…hanging around I suppose. Lingering, even."

"Why?"

"I guess I'm just…waiting."

"For what?"

The waiter returned, dropping the check along with a smile at both of them. Arthur extended his arm, hand covering the small black check holder readying itself to pick it up and retract, but Ariadne's arm jumped out in front of her and her hand covered his; her heart stopped. There was no reaction from him at first, just a slowly rising understanding as he assessed the situation. And then, slowly, he turned his hand around, releasing the check to grab her hand. He pulled on it, pulled her in; her heart jumped. His thumb began stroking the inside of her palm; her heart fell.

"I don't know what I'm waiting for, Ariadne."

As her name slipped through his lips, Ariadne felt her heart begin a slow ascension from the pits of her stomach. It rose higher and higher until it rested at the base of her throat. Her heart melted as she smiled at him, squeezing his hand in return.

She thought that, just for a moment, it would be alright for her heart to follow his hand.

* * *

_He had been wandering around aimlessly for an hour, lost in the silence of the warehouse. Believing his only companion to be his echoing footsteps, Cobb was taken aback when the distinct roaring squeak of the door opening and closing bounced off the walls. Slightly wary of the intruders in his dream, Cobb tip-toed over toward the center of the room only to stop in his tracks as his heart did at the sight before him._

_Muffled voices filled the air accompanied by shuffling footsteps coming from two silhouetted figures in the distance. Cobb wondered, for a moment, what his subconscious was trying to get across with this scene. So, feeling slightly irritated with himself, Cobb gave up the charade of hiding from his subconscious and did nothing to mask the distinct clicks of his shoes against the cement floor. He marched forth with purposeful steps and a gaze focused on the path before him, speaking before looking up._

"_Hey, what are you two—"_

* * *

Ariadne 's heart rescinded from Arthur's grasp and wound its way back into her chest, fighting against the chastising her mind threw at it. There, it struggled to fall back into the steady rhythm expected of it but found such a task proved impossible with the cause of her otherwise regular palpitations.

"Dom," Arthur spoke for her.

"Ah," he seemed flustered. "s-sorry about that—I, uh, sorry—really, I am." He made to turn but a sudden burst in her chest made Ariadne jolt forward and yell out at last.

"No! Wait—you don't have to…"

Ariadne caught herself, realizing what she had done. She brought her hand to her forearm, scratching it as though the awkwardness of the situation would fall away with her skin cells. The back of her neck burned from Arthur's heated gaze and her cheeks from Dom's questioning one. It was all like some terrible, terrible dream. Vainly, she pinched the raw skin of her arm and bit on her lip.

"Ah, this is all like some really weird dream, isn't it?" Ariadne half-joked.

She looked up Dom to see his head tilted to the side. There it was, that look of recognition mixed with an almost-discovery.

"How so?" he asked.

"I just never thought I'd see…the both of you, together, in the same room again."

"Why," Arthur finally spoke, his breath igniting Ariadne's already inflamed neck.

"Because…" her mouth went dry, "ah, mm, sorry," Ariadne placed a hand on her head, wiping away the cool sweat she hadn't noticed accumulate. "Something happened…"

"Ariadne?" Dom rushed forward and caught Ariadne before she fell. She barely had a moment to relish in the sensation of his engulfing warmth—it burned her so. Ariadne placed her hands against his chest, noting with a bleary vision how small she actually was compared to him.

"No—get away," she could barely breathe. Arthur placed a hand on her back in a comforting gesture but she recoiled. "Don't. Touch me." She let out between heavy, weighted breaths.

"What's wrong with her?" Arthur looked over at Dom, an arm still outstretched as if to catch the reeling Ariadne.

"I don't know but…" Dom stood before Ariadne, worry weighing on his brow as he saw her flushed face. A moment later, the walls of the warehouse reverberated as the musical cue made its steady approach.

Dom caught Ariadne before stumbling back himself. The two fell in a heap on the cold cement floor one returning to reality and the other fighting against it.

* * *

"_Promise me one thing, Dom."_

"_What is it, Ariadne?"_

"_Promise me we'll see each other again."_

"_Ariadne, I—"_

"_You don't have to worry about what will happen, just tell me now."_

"_I really don't think that's such a good idea."_

"_I know it's a lot to ask but I need to hear it, Dom. I need you to say it."_

"_Please, just—"_

"_I'll make you all the promises you want in return. I'll promise I'll come back. I'll promise I'll never lose myself. I'll promise you'll never lose me. I'll promise to you, to Miles, to the children. I'll do anything and everything for you just make me feel like you'll do the same. You don't have to say anything—just make me feel it, Dom. I want to feel wanted. I want you to want me and I want to believe you when you say it. I want you to look at me and see me. I want you to think of only me when you come home, when you go to sleep, and when you wake. I want it to be just me in your eyes—on your mind. Please, Dom, please, just say that one thing and I'll be happy."_

"_Ariadne, I just need some time…"_

"_I'll give you everything, Dom."_

"_No, it's just…"_

"_Look at me, see me…"_

"_Oh, Ariadne…"_

"_I want more than my dreams now…I want to be with you constantly, Dom…I want to be happy."_


End file.
